Casey Krueger brings Olympic ambitions to Washington Spirit

Krueger is already an Olympian after helping the United States take bronze at the Tokyo Games in 2021. But to return as the mother of a 1½-year-old boy, playing her way back into the picture at age 33? That would be all the more meaningful.

“There’s no word that can capture how I would feel because it would mean that much to me,” Krueger said. “To be a mom now and be an Olympian, I think that would be something incredibly special. I get emotional thinking about it.”

A tenacious one-on-one defender with the pace and instincts to jump into the attack, Krueger has been one of the NWSL’s top fullbacks while playing for her hometown Chicago Red Stars over the past decade. Although she missed much of preseason while representing the U.S. squad at the Concacaf W Gold Cup in Southern California, the veteran has quickly taken to her role as the elder statesman on a revamped Spirit back line after inking a three-year contract this past offseason.

“She’s honestly just such a professional every day,” said Spirit captain Andi Sullivan, Krueger’s longtime U.S. teammate. “She’s so hard-working, so consistent, so steady and just a very calming presence. It’s really awesome to have someone who has both those attributes — someone who will get stuck in a tackle but then also be so composed.”

Krueger described leaving Chicago as “probably the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make,” after a last-place finish and considerable turnover left the Red Stars in the midst of a rebuild. But Krueger, who was born and raised in the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Ill., had to consider the impact any move would have on the life she and her husband, Cody, had built for their son, Caleb.

As Krueger entered free agency, Spirit General Manager Mark Krikorian — her former coach at Florida State — pitched her on coming to Washington to help stabilize a back line in flux. Spirit owner Y. Michele Kang, who made an offseason splash by poaching heralded coach Jonatan Giráldez from Barcelona, laid out the club’s sprawling ambitions in a subsequent conversation. When it came to relocation, Krueger said the team offered insight into local schools and helped her husband, an emergency room physician, look for employment.

Krueger’s national team status also played a factor. After giving birth in July 2022, Krueger returned to the U.S. squad last April for the final camp before then-coach Vlatko Andonovski picked his World Cup roster. When she missed out on the 23-player squad that traveled to Australia and New Zealand, then watched from afar as a veteran-heavy U.S. team crashed out in the round of 16, she figured that might be the end of her international career as all signs pointed toward an American youth movement.

“I always knew my timeline was going to be a little tight because of pregnancy and postpartum,” Krueger said. “I had one camp, and I gave it everything I got and I left it on the table. I unfortunately didn’t make it, but at the end of the day, I felt that I did what I could and that helped me be able to swallow that a little bit better.”

Krueger got the call, however, when Kilgore summoned the Americans’ first post-World Cup roster. Even when a slew of veterans were left off the squad that won the Gold Cup earlier this month, Krueger again made the cut.

“I was very thankful,” she said, “that they hadn’t given up on me.”

Krueger knows a thing or two about resilience. After her NWSL career began with back-to-back season-ending knee injuries, she earned second-team all-league honors for her debut season in 2016 and made the first team a year later. Although she was one of the last cuts from the 2019 World Cup squad, she rallied to make the Olympic team two years later.

Such proven fortitude made her an ideal fit for a Washington defense short on experience. In the Spirit’s 1-0 loss at the Seattle Reign on Sunday, Krueger started alongside Gabrielle Carle (25 years old), forward-turned-defender Tara McKeown (24) and rookie Kate Wiesner (23). After beginning the match as McKeown’s center back partner, Krueger seamlessly switched to left back after halftime — flexibility that could prove key when the U.S. team picks an Olympic squad that features just 18 players.

“She’s a great role model,” said Spirit interim coach Adrián González, who is overseeing the team until Giráldez takes over in June. “She always wants to learn, she’s always listening and trying to improve, and I think that’s perfect. … All the coaches, we want to have players like her, for sure.”

McKeown added: “She is one of the best in her position, so learning from her, I think, is an opportunity for all of us.”

Off the field, Krueger is settling into her family’s Leesburg home and, having been won over by D.C.’s food scene during a Red Stars road trip last year, plotting plenty of restaurant ventures. (“I’m just a big foodie,” she said, “and the food was so good.”) After Krueger celebrated the Gold Cup title on the pitch with Cody and Caleb, that experience left her with all the more appreciation for the opportunity to share her on-field exploits with her budding family.

“Those are moments that you realize it’s bigger than football,” Krueger said. “This is why I do it — to see that little boy running around, celebrating, having the time of his life, because we’re going to look back on this one day and just realize how lucky we are.”

Notes: The NWSL and Mexico’s Liga MX Femenil will host a summer tournament featuring teams from both circuits, the leagues announced Wednesday. The matches will be played during the NWSL’s Olympic hiatus this summer, with Washington scheduled to face the Red Stars, NJ/NY Gotham FC and Mexican club Chivas de Guadalajara in the group stage. …

Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury will be eligible to play Saturday after the Spirit successfully appealed a red card that was given via video review during Washington’s loss to Seattle.